therapy

two weekends ago, i spent a wonderful, meditative weekend at my aunt and uncle’s beach house in bethany.
(by myself. alone. sans company, nada compadres)
when i arrived on friday night, i unpacked my car and drove to the boardwalk in ocean city.
upon emergence from the car, i was immediately five-years-old again.
you see…it was like sensory-memory-therapy.
when we were kids, along with anyone else who grew up within driving distance to this endearing place, we would beg our parents to take us to the boardwalk. “pleasepleaseplease take us on the rides…we want cotton candy…chocolate-dipped ice cream cones, yes!”
the big ferris-wheel, the salt-water taffy signs (does anyone actually eat that stuff?) and the hermit-crab cages…mmm hmmm. yup. all good.

i grabbed a slice of pepperoni and settled on a bench to watch the crowds.
pure entertainment at its best. truly.
stuffed-animal toting, exhausted children demanding ice cream from their sunburned parents, eating big buckets of thrasher’s french fries doused with vinegar.
high school graduates, celebrating “senior week”, weaving drunkenly in their teensy-mini skirts and tattoo-exhibiting wife-beaters.
aaaaahhhh yes, i was “downy o-shun” as we say in baltimore.

i finished my snack and walked a mile or so down, breathing in the salt air.
i could feel the stress leaving with each caramel-popcorn-infused inhale.
i was amazed at the big jesus-sand-sculpture. incredibly there was a huge container of cash-o-la that sits in front of the sculpture.
it is crammed with bills and no one steals it!
gives one hope that there is good in the world.


i went down to the very end of the boardwalk where the rides are. i reminiscently visited the same carousel that i used to ride thirty years ago.
so much goodness: the big ship that swings back and forth, and the
rollercoaster that looks like a giant, twisted spine.
all the same.
amazing.
beautiful even.



i treated myself to a chocolate soft-serve cone and watched the man flounder at the “i’ll guess your age and weight” attraction.
with my belly and camera full, i returned to my car and drove back to the serenity of bethany beach.
i slept in the silent night.
slept in the absence of sirens and traffic.
i slept.
hard.

i spent both saturday and sunday on the sand.
i read,
ate soft-shell crab sandwiches,
snacked on fischer’s popcorn,
ate more ice cream,
napped.

the beach heals.